cleve callison’s blog

The lovable moptops

The Beatles’ All You Need is Love is a great song, no doubt. It was voted the favorite song in the UK in a 1999 millennium poll. Most people, including John Lennon, regard it as a positive song. But is it?

Maybe I’m missing something totally obvious, but I’ve always puzzled about what the line “There’s nothing you can do that can’t be done” really means. Can you do everything? Or only some things? Or nothing? The logic is kind of double-reversed. The dilemma is a little clearer in the line

Nowhere you can be that isn’t where you were meant to be

As I read it this could either mean

You can go anywhere, and any place you go is where you were meant to be

or

You can’t go everywhere, but any place you can is go is where you were meant to be

So, are the possibilities limited or unlimited? Probably better to just listen and enjoy.